Premier Jason Kenney (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

"Code of Silence Award"

Alberta Government named “most secretive provincial government in Canada”

Apr 28, 2020 | 12:09 PM

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) has bestowed upon the Government of Alberta an unfortunate distinction.

They have been given the “Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy” in the provincial category.

It is awarded annually by the CAJ in partnership with the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, News Media Canada, and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

“George Orwell’s 1984 was written as a warning. But, increasingly, it seems Premier Jason Kenney’s government in Alberta is using it as a handbook,” reads a citation from the four groups.

They say the first instance of this is when Kenney followed through with his campaign promise in June 2019 to create an “energy war room” to counter what he called a “conspiracy by foreign-funded interest to attack the province’s energy industry.”

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“Critics say the theory behind that conspiracy has been debunked,” says the CAJ. “Instead, they say the war room, which has a $30-million annual budget, is an attempt to silence those who would tell the truth about Alberta’s oil patch and its contribution to the existential threat of global climate change.”

Next, the agencies site the creation of the Canadian Energy Centre and the fact that all of its internal operations are exempt from freedom of information legislation.

“In response to these developments, Amnesty International has expressed “deep concern” that the war room will “undermine and violate a range of Alberta’s human rights obligations,” as well as create a “climate of hostility” toward environmental human rights defenders, “exposing them to intimidation and threats, including threats of violence.”

According to the CAJ, the public’s power to hold the war room to account has been severely constrained by the government’s decision to shield it from freedom of information requests.

“That means the public will only find out what the Kenney government wants them to find out about the war room.”